My Rules by Shel Silverstein (1974): Poems ESL Listening

(TESOL Worksheets--Poems ESL Listening)
Transcript: drive, docs, pub, Homework Worksheet: docs, pub, Quizlet HERE
Video HERE

My Rules by Shel Silverstein (1974): poems

Video: https://youtu.be/IY-c3aYzQPI

Quizlet: https://quizlet.com/_6tlkhc

Suggested Use:

Step 1: Look at the vocabulary. Check any words that you don’t know in your dictionary.

Step 2: Listen to the video. (Listen only.  Don’t look at the poem yet).

Step  3: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet 

Step 4: Watch the video again.  This time look at the poem. Read and listen at the same time.

Step 5: Practice the vocabulary on Quizlet again 

Step 6: Listen one last time.  The last time, don’t look at the poem. 

Vocabulary

chicken, develop, dumpling, hail, holey, knack, marry, perfect, rake, rest, rule, scratch, sew, shined, shoe, shovel, snow, sock, soothe, spotlessly, stew, still, troubled

My Rules by Shel Silverstein (1974): poems

If you want to marry me, here’s what you’ll have to do:

You must learn how to make a perfect chicken-dumpling stew.

And you must sew my holey socks,

And soothe my troubled mind,

And develop a knack for scratching my back,

And keep my shoes spotlessly shined.

And while I rest you must rake up the leaves,

And when it is hailing and snowing

You must shovel the walk… and be still when I talk,

And—hey—where are you going?

Vocabulary

chicken - the meat of a chicken:

I would like a chicken sandwich

develop - to grow or change and become more advanced, or to make someone or something do this:

She's taking a course to develop her computer skills.

dumpling - a round mixture of fat and flour that has been cooked in boiling liquid:

I love stew and dumplings..

hail - If it hails, small, hard pieces of frozen rain fall from the sky:

Look! It's hailing!

holey - full of holes

knack - a special skill, or the ability to use or do something easily:

She has a knack for remembering faces

marry - to begin a legal relationship with someone as their husband or wife:

Will you marry me?

perfect - without fault, or as good as possible:

James is a perfect husband and father.

rake - a garden tool with a long handle that is used for moving dead leaves, grass, etc

rest - to relax or sleep because you are tired after doing an activity or because you are sick:

Pete's resting after his long drive.

rule - an official instruction about what you must or must not do:

You can't smoke at school, it's against the rules (= not allowed).

scratch - to rub your skin with your nails, often to stop it itching (= feeling unpleasant):

My skin was so itchy, I was scratching all night.

sew - to join things together with a needle and thread:

I need to sew a button on my shirt.

shine - If a surface shines, it reflects light, and if you shine it, you make it reflect light:

She polished her shoes until they shined.

shoe - a strong covering for the foot, often made of leather:

Take your shoes off.

shovel - to move with a shovel:

Would you give me a hand shovelling the snow away from the garage door?

snow - soft white pieces of frozen water that fall from the sky when the weather is cold:

She watched the children playing in the snow.

sock - something that you wear on your foot inside your shoe:

This is a pair of black socks.

soothe - to make someone feel calm or less worried:

You need to soothe a crying baby.

spotless - completely clean:

By the time I'd finished, the whole room was spotless.

spotlessly - adverb of "spotless":

Make this room spotlessly clean.

stew - a dish made of vegetables and meat cooked together slowly in liquid:

I love beef stew.

still - to stand, stay, sit, etc without moving:

Sit still so I can brush your hair.

troubled - worried or having a lot of problems:

You look troubled.